Fire Emblem Fan Fiction ❯ Fire Emblem Tellius Saga: Book 3 ❯ CHAPTER 95: ASHERA ( Chapter 29 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

Ike and Yune pushed the doors open, and beyond them was nothing but white light. Elincia was the first to walk into it, followed by the rest of the mercenaries, but Soren held back. Then Kurthnaga and Ena strode in, and Soren noticed none of the disappearing people were casting any shadows. The light just enveloped them. He couldn’t even sense them anymore.

Skrimir and Ranulf went next, followed by Tibarn and Reyson, hand in hand. Then Sanaki entered, and finally Ike walked forward so Soren took the plunge as well. Sothe and Yune would be last, but Soren knew they wouldn’t be far behind.

The light faded, becoming more manageable as Soren squinted to see his new surroundings. Everyone was standing here (wherever ‘here’ was), and there were no doors behind them, only the abyss. Up a short flight of steps was a vast octagonal platform, marred only by broken pillars that wouldn’t have led anywhere, even if they’d been whole. There was no ceiling (or walls for that matter). There was only darkness.

Yune and Sothe appeared, and Ike led everyone onto the platform. At its center stood a tall woman, and as Ike led them forward, Soren realized just how tall she was. She towered at least fifteen feet, and she was dressed in a long black gown that reached from the line of her jaw all the way to the floor, where is fanned out around her. Both the trail and the draping sleeves were fitted with white feathers. On the top of her head was a matching headdress. Her hair was so long that it reached her feet, and it was the soft pink color of dawn’s first light. Her features were regal and serious, even with her eyes closed, but Soren found it difficult to look at her face for more than a moment. He was certain—this was the goddess Ashera.

“It’s her,” Ike noted.

“Ashera…” Yune whispered back. Then she stepped forward and raised her voice: “Ashera! It’s me…Yune. Can you hear me?”

The goddess didn’t move, open her eyes, or offer any sign she’d heard the question.

“Please!” Yune walked closer. “Please listen to me! You don’t need to pass any more judgement! You can return the people to normal!”

Now finally, Ashera opened her eyes, but her gaze was so strong Soren couldn’t look at her face at all now. His head swam if he tried. “I cannot,” Ashera replied, and although she wasn’t speaking particularly loudly, her voice penetrated deep into his mind, becoming louder than his own thoughts. “There are still people in my world who are made of fallible flesh,” she continued, “This imperfect world has passed beyond control. Now, I shall pass my final judgement.”

“Wait!” Yune cried out. “You can’t violate the terms of the covenant, Ashera! One-thousand years still hasn’t passed. We were woken by galdr, not by mankind’s war.”

“It matters not,” Ashera declared, and the force of her voice made some of the mercenaries clamp their hands over their ears or press their fingers to their temples. “During my long sleep, beorc and laguz continued to fight. The children of flesh will never learn nor grow. Time will pass as always, but nothing can change the destiny of mankind.”

“You have to look deeper!” Yune begged. “The first judgement didn’t turn everyone to stone, and I’ll tell you why.” She took another step closer. “Because these people are not the people we once knew! Ashera, these people have become something else.” She gestured behind her at the eclectic mix of mercenaries and royalty. “People—the Zunanma—were the only living creatures that we didn’t create. Animals evolved to become Zunanma, who then became laguz and beorc… That evolution continues today!” She took a couple more steps, even though she seemed to be pushing against an invisible force. “Ashera…I’ll tell you a secret you didn’t know.” She pulled back her sleeve to again reveal Micaiah’s Brand. “Children can be born of a beorc and laguz parent. They are still few in number, but if allowed to flourish, mankind might become anything! If the two races continue to evolve, I’m sure something wonderful might emerge! You can’t just bring that to a halt.”

“Do not claim certainty of anything,” Ashera warned, “The children of this world are born of chaos, and nothing could be more uncertain. The world does not require the evolution of man. My responsibility is to protect order, the balance of all life-forms. Beings that evolve without my guidance will only destabilize and threaten this world. Because of that-”

“You have to wipe out everyone made of flesh?” Yune cut her off. “Is that what you’re trying to say?” She adjusted her stance, straightened her spine, and raised her chin. “…Very well then. You and I have nothing more to talk about. My only choice is to defeat you.”

“Yune, do not be absurd,” Ashera replied, not sounding the least bit amused (or even annoyed). “You cannot overthrow me, just as I cannot overthrow you.”

“Of course not,” Yune agreed, but there was a smile in her voice. She cast an hand behind her, pointing at the assembled mercenaries. “But they can!” Turning around, she extended both arms. “Everyone! The time has come. Defeat Ashera, or everyone you love will be a statue forever!”

“These people…” the goddess observed, “they carry your blessing, Yune… You mean to fight me?”

She turned back to face Ashera but didn’t reply. Ike strode forward until he was standing beside her and answered in her stead: “Ashera, you are our goddess. We live in the world you made, and that makes us your people. But now you make it sound like we’re some sort of filthy creatures who just decided to settle down here and cause trouble.”

“Ike, don’t say it like that,” Yune hissed as if insulted on behalf of all people.

But he continued: “We’re not perfect. Sometimes our brains tell us one thing, while our hearts tell us another. And war…” He shook his head. “The more we try to avoid it, the worse it is when it comes. People are probably the dumbest creatures alive.”

“But…” Yune grinned and tilted her head. “Somehow, you’re also the most endearing. It’s your imperfections that make you so interesting… Imperfections very similar to ours,” she added, giving Ashera a meaningful glance.

But the goddess didn’t seem at all charmed by Ike’s speech. She said nothing.

“We know that we’ve messed up,” he continued, “We’ll do our best to avoid more war and make peace our highest priority. Ashera, just give us one more chance. All we ask is for one more chance.”

“You expect me to reverse my judgment?” Ashera replied (sounding completely uninclined to do so). “The Goddess of Order cannot be so…mercurial. My decision is final.”

“So that’s how it’s going to be, huh? Then we will fight—” Ike drew his sword “—and we will save our people. Make your peace with whatever the gods worship. Your end is near.”

“My end is near?” Ashera repeated.

Ike adjusted the grip on his sword and widened his stance. “In every battle that’s mattered in my life, I’ve always been the one left standing, no matter how slim my odds. This battle means more than any of the others, because it’s for the life of every person I’ve ever cared about. I will win this fight too!”

At this, everyone roared and cheered—even Soren. And soon the Greil Mercenaries were running. Ike was running, Yune was running, and Soren was running too. Ashera swept one graceful arm through the air, and dozens of Spirit Tails manifested to defend her. The charge came to an explosive halt, and fighting erupted on all sides.

 

Soren thought he’d reached the limit of his strength, the end of his power, and the very edges of his own mind long ago. He didn’t know what more he had to give, but he refused to give up now. He continued to chant new spells, and they continued to work. Now that he had completely passed his own limits, he felt infinitely powerful. He truly didn’t know what he was capable of—so it might as well be anything.

He roared hoarsely as he fought: shouting the spells at the top of his lungs and hardly stopping to catch his breath. The rest of the mercenaries were equally loud and unrelenting, and Soren realized they were all fighting just like Ike. The voiceless, soulless Spirit Tails were strong, but they didn’t stand a chance in comparison.

Gradually, they moved closer to Ashera, but she wasn’t wasting this time just standing there passively. Whenever Soren looked up, he saw her moving her arms in gentle arcs, conjuring some sort of light barrier around herself.

“Everyone, listen carefully!” Yune called suddenly. She’d never left them, instead choosing to fight in Micaiah’s body. “In order to reach Ashera, we must first destroy the aura protecting her, got it?” Everyone roared in unison to show they’d heard. “Attack the aura!” she repeated, sending a torrent of burning light zig-zagging through the nearest Spirit Tails.

Sothe was fighting with his back to hers, slashing away at a Thunder Tail. The Tail matched almost every stroke with its own dagger of forked lightning. But Sothe was faster, and he was steadily shredding the spirit to pieces.

Behind them, Ena blasted a Wind Tail with her crimson breath until it poofed out of existence, and beside her, Kurthnaga was doing the same to a Fire Tail.

Oscar, Boyd, and Rolf were working together to eliminate one Tail after another. If the three brothers managed to surround and attack the spirit at the same time, the Tail couldn’t maintain its form for more than a few seconds.

Mist was fighting near them, using the holy sword Alondite to strike offensively and her Mend staff to block the returning attacks. Ike was beside her, swinging Ragnell with all of his strength and not refraining from punching or kicking the Spirit Tails as he would a physical opponent. Although it must have hurt to come into direct contact with the spirits, this tactic seemed to disrupt their forms enough for the sword’s next strike to do even more damage.

The same was true for Tibarn, Skrimir, and Ranulf, all of whom attacked with their whole bodies despite the pain that every scratch, blow, or bite must have caused them. Reyson was always overhead, singing to make their animal forms stronger and more resilient.

Not far from the laguz, Gatrie and Shinon were fighting together, and they seemed to be relying on their tried-and-true maneuver: Gatrie on defense while Shinon unleashed a relentless onslaught. With his shield raised, Gatrie was able to absorb the impact from most of the Spirit Tails’ assaults, while Shinon shot arrows into the Tails as fast as he could keep his arm moving to fire them. Thanks to Yune’s magic, his quiver was never empty.

Soren now turned his attention to the other side, where he saw Mia spinning, dipping, leaping, and diving between the Spirit Tails. She kept her feet moving constantly, and she seemed to be fighting at least three or more Tails at once. By keeping them in close quarters, she was able to use them as shields against the others’ counterattacks.

Rhys fought behind her, where he was relatively safe and only one Tail could approach him at a time. He was defending himself with light magic while he scanned the troops, looking for injuries. He was no juggernaut, but as soon as he noticed someone needing his attention, he didn’t let a single Spirit Tail get in his way or slow him down.

He was aided by Elincia, who wielded the holy sword Amiti and was proving she could be just as dangerous fighting on two feet as she was from a pegasus’s back. Her once-gleaming white armor was scuffed and bloodied, and her fine clothes and gossamer cape were torn. Her hair was disheveled under her battle crown, but she was unmistakably the Queen of Crimea.

Last was Sanaki, who was using Rexflame spells to corral and burn the Spirit Tails from the floor upward. This was especially true for the Wind Tails, which couldn’t help but suck up the fire and burn from the inside out. She appeared to have gotten over Lehran’s betrayal and death, or at least, she must have cast her grief aside, because right now she was fighting just as fervently and loudly as the rest. Then again, Soren supposed it could still be grief driving the spells she screamed and the flames she summoned with such power that they melted the stone floor.

As for him, Soren was keeping the winds moving ceaselessly. He was the epicenter of a storm of Rexcalibur spells, and his skin, hair, and clothes were covered in frost where the water particles in the air froze to him. But he didn’t mind the cold so long as the spells were also freezing his enemies. The Spirit Tails slowed down when encased in individual prisms of wind, one after another. Then, all at once, they exploded. Loose tongues of flame would scatter before extinguishing. Gusts of wind would fly out in every direction before losing speed and disappearing. And the air would crackle with zaps of latent electricity before they popped innocuously away.

Eventually Soren reached the wall of white light surrounding Ashera, and although there were still plenty of Spirit Tails around, he targeted the aura instead. He cast three Rexcalibur spells, giving his full might to each one. But there was no visible effect on the wall, which was now opaque and blinding

To make matters worse, merely standing near the aura seemed to be draining the life out of him. He felt weak and dizzy, and he struggled to keep his legs underneath him with some semblance of balance. The light wrapped him in a warm, soothing sensation. It promised to take all of his pain away, like a healing staff.

But Soren still had enough sense to realize he wasn’t being healed. In fact, the opposite was occurring: the wounds the Spirit Tails had given him were opening wider and digging deeper. Blood flowed faster. Refusing to be taken in by the aura’s power, Soren summoned another Rexcalibur, and this time he refused to let it go. If his strength was going to be sapped anyway, he might as well be funneling it into a spell.

The gyrating winds sliced mercilessly against the aura, slowly carving it like a sculptor chipping away at marble. Beside him, Sanaki was doing the same thing with Rexflame: attempting to drill into the wall with a vortex of fire. Elincia and Mist stabbed at a section of the aura alternatingly, and Rolf and Shinon fired from a distance. Kurthnaga released a powerful jet of blue fire comparable to the one he’d summon to destroy Castle Nox, and even Sothe was there, slicing at the aura as if he might be able to cut out a doorway.

Then, finally, Yune called over the battle: “Step back, out of the way!”

Soren didn’t have to be told twice, he stumbled backward, wanting to be away from the dreaded aura. The others made themselves scarce, and Yune pushed both palms forward, casting an enormous blast of light magic at the center of the aura where everyone had been attacking.

The wall flickered to nothing. Now Ashera was revealed, frowning as if in disapproval. “The aura’s gone!” Yune announced, although it was obvious.

“Excellent,” Ike called as he raced past her. “Now we can finish this.” He raised his sword and swung, but Ashera deflected it easily with the back of her wrist.

“Be judged, mortals,” she declared before making a pushing gesture with her other hand, and a wave of blue and purple light rolled gently away from her in all directions. Soren saw it force Ike to his knees, and a moment later, Yune fell too.

Then the wave hit Soren, and there was nothing he could do to stop it. His knees hit the ground, but the jolt that ran through his body was wrong. His limbs felt heavy. His legs felt hard and detached. His entire body felt cold, and it had nothing to do with his spellcasting. This cold came from inside.

Something had cracked, and he realized it was him—more specifically, his knee caps. Stone had hit stone and fractured. He was crumbling. He needed to stabilized himself so he wouldn’t fall again and break further. He tried to move, but his body was simply too heavy, and his joints wouldn’t respond. He tried to breath, but the air was being chased out of his lungs. He was being turned to stone from the ground up.

He focused on the feeling of his own heartbeat, which was thumping as fast as a rabbit’s right now. He was frightened, but as long as he felt fear in his chest and in his blood, that meant he was alive. He wasn’t stone yet.

Soren didn’t know how much time passed, but he reasoned that, if any time was passing at all, that meant the petrification wasn’t instantaneous. It was taking time, which meant he could resist it. He tried to move again, and when this didn’t work, he tried to see or hear; he tried becoming conscious. He knew the others had to be out there. They always were.

“You would still face me in battle?” asked a voice, and Soren realized it was Ashera’s. If she was talking, that meant someone must have overcome her judgment. Someone was still fighting.

“I would,” answered another voice, and Soren was overjoyed to recognize it as Ike’s.

“I need no further evidence of your kind’s imperfections,” Ashera replied, “This will hardly be a battle at all. Simply an end. Perish, flawed one.”

All at once, Soren came back to his body and struck the ground with his palms. He gasped, and his lungs expanded with air. When he arched his back, it cooperated. When he bent his neck, it moved. He looked at his own arms and legs. They were flesh, not stone. His knees hurt, but he could still stand (albeit shakily).

Getting to his feet, he saw the rest of the mercenaries either trying to pick themselves up or not moving at all. But they weren’t stone—not their bodies anyway. The laguz had all reverted their forms, and Tibarn and Reyson must have fallen out of the air. Tibarn’s right wing and arm both looked broken, and Reyson was bleeding from a head wound.

Soren turned his gaze back to Ike, who was trading blows with the goddess. Although she didn’t wield a weapon, she brought her hands together to create a ball of blue light that she then used to block Ike’s attacks. Hitting it seemed to hurt Ike more than her, and each collision disintegrated his gauntlets, his gloves, his sleeves a little more. Even his skin was peeling away in ribbons of flesh that stretched up his arms.

Naturally, Ike was trying to hit her instead of the ball. This should have been relatively easy due to the fact that he was less than half her height and had easy access to her legs. But she was fast and kept herself well-guarded.

Even when Ike managed to hit her, Ashera showed no sign of pain. She didn’t bleed, and the wounds did nothing to impede her movement. But Soren wasn’t particularly surprised by this. After all, she was not made of ‘fallible flesh’ as she accused them of being.

Since Ike didn’t seem able to defeat Ashera on his own, Soren staggered closer and began chanting Rexcalibur spells. He targeted the goddess’s head and shoulders where Ike couldn’t reach. In response, she broke the ball of light in two, and moved each hand separately to block both their attacks.

Then Shinon picked himself up and started firing arrows, although his movements were more disjointedly than before. Mist got to her feet, dropped her staff and ran forward with both hands on the hilt of her sword. Boyd was next, limping forward and raising his axe despite his shaking arms.

But then, with the back of her hand, Ashera batted Mist away with such force that she went flying before rolling to a stop. She didn’t get back up.

“MIST!” Ike screamed, but he didn’t retreat to check on her. Ashera was trying to do the same thing to him, moving her arms so quickly it seemed she had more than two. Ike managed to counter one of the attacks, splitting her arm from between her index and middle finger all the way down past her wrist. However, Ashera didn’t seem the least concerned, and her body kept moving as if the wound hadn’t occurred.

With her other hand, which seemed to move independent of her attention, she threw a ball of blue light at Shinon, who tried and failed to avoid it. Although it only hit his legs, he was sent spinning backward with incredible force, and Soren had no doubt both legs had been broken (if not his back too). He didn’t get up.

At this time, Skrimir and Elincia had managed to come back to themselves and were charging Ashera from either side. She fended them off (along with Ike and Boyd) and then sent a blue ball at Soren, which he narrowly dodged.

A moment later, one of Ashera’s legs emerged from a slit in her gown and kicked Skrimir so hard that his body seemed to fold. He flew across the platform, reverting before he landed.

Arrows were flying at her face again, and Ashera blocked them, turning her gaze on Rolf, who’d just managed to get himself onto one knee. She took him out in the same way she’d blasted Shinon, while at the same time, her opposite leg swept Boyd’s legs out from under him and then stomped down on him.

“No, Boyd!” Ike called out, trying to reach for his friend’s body. But Ashera took advantage of his distraction and tried to swipe at him in the same way she’d dispatched Mist. Ike barely managed to duck and avoid it in time. But her hand flew over him, straight into Elincia, who was knocked to the ground and didn’t rise. “Elincia!” Ike cried in a panic.

Soren heard commotion behind him and stopped attacking Ashera in time to see that Rhys was trying to heal Tibarn and Reyson, both of whom had regained some semblance of consciousness. Meanwhile, Yune was healing Mist while also looking anxiously at Ashera. Peripheral commotion drew his attention to where Mia, Oscar, and Ranulf were fighting the few remaining Spirit Tails.

Deciding he’d already separated his attention from Ashera long enough, Soren turned his gaze in time to see a glowing orb heading straight for him. He unleashed the Rexcalibur spell he’d just prepared at it, but it was already too close. Although he stopped the ball, the pressure exploded back at him anyway, sending him to the ground, hard.

Lights popped in his brain, and air whooshed out of his lungs. Gasping and disoriented, Soren struggled to roll over and prop himself back up on his arms. The world wobbled around him. Sanaki and Kurthnaga were helping Ike fight Ashera now, and Ena had gone to help Mia, Oscar, and Ranulf fight the Spirit Tails.

Ashera’s body seemed to be coming apart at the seams—every seam being a place where Ike or someone else had managed to cut her. And yet she fought on without slowing. Managing to make a connection with Kurthnaga’s chest with her blue-glowing palm, she pushed him back. His claws dug ruts into the floor as tried to stop himself from sliding. But when he did stop, the scales on his chest were dented and mangled. He couldn’t maintain his form for more than a second after that and collapsed as nothing but a boy.

Soren chanted another Rexcalibur spell, hoping he could still be useful. After a few tries, he got to his feet again.

Gatrie and Sothe had also come back to themselves and after defeating a couple Spirit Tails, they ran to support Ike and Sanaki. However, no sooner had they arrived did Ashera kick Sothe straight into Sanaki, taking them both out with one blow. That left only Ike and Gatrie to oppose her.

Soren continued chanting spells—but then something broke inside him. His breath caught in his throat. He forced himself to finish the spell, but nothing happened. He recited a new Rexcalibur incantation, but still nothing happened. He tried a simple Wind spell, but he couldn’t even stir the air.

Tears prickled his eyes as he realized he’d finally exhausted his power. He had nothing more to give, and it probably didn’t matter anyway. His wounds from earlier had never stopped bleeding, and he was about to pass out. He had lost too much blood; he had expended too much energy. His knees were fractured and swelling. He had a concussion, and his vision was blurry and uneven. But even now, he fought off the shreds of oblivion that tugged at his mind. He had to see what would happen. He had to see Ashera defeated. He had to see Ike win.

Just then, the goddess managed to slap Gatrie away, crumpling his armor as if it were paper. Only Ike remained. But Ashera was kneeling on one knee now, and her movements were finally starting to slow.

She only wielded a glowing orb in one hand, and it was smaller. Soren dared hope Ike could land a finishing blow. Now that her other hand had lost the power it’d held, Ashera used it and her arm to merely block Ike’s attacks, and in this way, he swung straight down, severing her arm so her forearm merely floated adjacent to her elbow.

After this, Ike slowed down and stepped back. Perhaps he sensed his foe was nearing defeat and was giving her a chance to surrender. Ashera didn’t move to strike him again. She said nothing, and her face was unreadable. The places where she’d been cut were aligning, and the seams were oozing back into a solid mass. She was, quite literally, pulling herself together.

Yune jogged up to Ike, calling: “We have to put an end to this! Take all the power I have!”

Ike glanced at her and gave a small nod. “Thank you. I’ll use it well.”

Even before he’d accepted, however, the blue flames had started swirling out of Yune. They were brighter and spun faster than any of the previous times she’d bestowed her blessing—and the sight filled Soren with horror.

The fire shot up and then down again, straight into Ike. It coursed so swiftly and there was so much of it that Soren couldn’t comprehend how Ike could possibly contain it all without burning up from the inside. Then, Ike started to scream.

“No…” Soren mumbled, “No… Ike…” He tried to stand up but fell again. He could only watch.

The bird on Yune’s shoulder fell to the ground, apparently dead. Then the flames finally stopped rushing out of her, and Micaiah’s body also fell. Now, Ike was wreathed in the flaming aura. But he wasn’t Ike anymore. He was Greil—or rather, Greil on the day Soren had seen him slaughter an innocent family and then his own wife.

Ike was still screaming, and although his voice was unmistakably his own, it was a sound Soren had never heard before. He seemed to be crying out with a hundred voices, each one conveying a unique intensity of rage, terror, grief, malice, pain, frustration, exhilaration, and joy.

Ike lurched forward, but he moved almost too fast to see. He struck Ashera repeatedly, but his movements were jagged and inhuman. “I-ke!” Soren croaked, a sob constricting his throat. He couldn’t stand to see him in so much pain.

That day in the village, Greil had absorbed just a fragment of the goddess. He’d merely touched the medallion in which she’d slept, and her latent power had seeping into him, stripping away his mind and identity. He hadn’t been able to do anything but destroy whatever was in front of him.

Now, Yune was very much awake, and Ike had absorbed her entirely. It was so much worse than Soren could have imagined, but he couldn’t look away. He couldn’t blink. He couldn’t cover his ears or block out the screams.

Ashera’s face finally showed emotion—and she looked afraid. She raised her arms to try to defend herself, but she looked feeble next to Ike’s raw power. He didn’t show her a shred of mercy. He just kept hitting her and hitting her, until the goddess was nothing but a mosaic of her former self: a cloud of disconnected fragments. One of those fragments was her mouth, and it breathed: “Please…”

But Ike couldn’t hear her, because he wasn’t Ike any longer. He just kept cutting until the fragments that contained her eyes closed as if weeping.

Still, Ike roared and shrieked like a monster, and still, he struck her. Soren tried to get up again, and he managed a few steps before he fell. He was closer now. Too close. Not close enough. So far away. He felt the bloodlust, the haze of pain and madness, rippling off Ike like waves of heat. “Stop, Ike… Please, stop…” Soren mumbled, but he knew his voice would never reach him.

Then, all of the fragments that comprised Ashera suddenly shattered and fell like glowing snowflakes. Now Ike pulverized the floor, opening craters under his sword and sending stone chips flying. The glowing fragments faded one by one, but Soren didn’t think it had anything to do with Ike’s continued smashing.

When the last light was gone, his rage was unabated, and he was standing in a maelstrom of destruction. He seemed to be vibrating, his chest heaving and his head jerking around, perhaps looking for his next opponent. But it was hard to tell behind the blue flames.

Then, the aura became concentrated again. It shot out of Ike, whose shoulders sank in exhaustion and whose knees buckled. His screaming ceased with a hoarse, broken gasp.

“Ike!” Soren called, but he still didn’t seem to hear him.